#blog #KFO #writing #reboot #2019
Aspirational vs practical.
Thinking out loud.
An aspirational reconnection with an online archive (blog/journal/central point) of my life would not be design first? Dude... An Aspirational reconnection with what I’m writing is absolutely design first, at least it is if you’re approaching it from a design standpoint. The problem is and always has been, what kinda shell do you erect that presents you in your many ways?
I’d I go in messy (choosing a new template/design first,) without a story board and well thought out goal, I’m likely to get off to quick a start but i could type cast myself into a template that is not what I ultimately wanted, also a problem...
The working title was terrible for this piece about technology.
“Constant Craving vs Does it work or does it not work...”
In the movie Heat Robert Deniro has a famous line, it is a maxim about how you should live life.
“A guy told me one time, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner”
That quote has stayed with me for twenty years, except I remember the quote more like this
“You gotta be able to walk away from anything in fifteen minutes.”
In my mind, I think I was taking the gravity of the quote and giving myself some room to think. 30 seconds isn’t a long time and I’m not a bank robber. But I’ve come to apply this sentiment to technology. I love any equipment that augments my day to day experience, but I’m not into the thrill of new and I’m not going to stick around if it doesn’t work. I think the question I’m asking a lot in writing is “What does that mean?” What does it mean if you want technology to improve your life? If you ‘re a regular person the answer is different from an early adopter or a technologist.
Regular people buy something and they use it till they it absolutely no longer works. They will suffer slow downs, tape it together. Ignore broken pieces and just suffer what ever inconvenience there is till they just can’t stand it anymore. The vast majority of them will then replace it, begrudgingly, with the cheapest most ill suited replacement they can find and they will repeat the cycle, which is why you can go online or to a store and buy a blender for $14. Nobody wants a $14 blender, even the person who bought the $14 blender doesn’t want it. If you gave them a Vitamixer they’d stare in disbelief, at what a blender can do when it has a boat motor underneath it.
As an aside this piece isn’t necessarily going where I imagined it. This is usually where I wander what I’m talking about. When I started this piece I wanted to question my desire to try new stuff and being willing to pay for new stuff, but not wanting to keep a product if it didn’t really deliver on the augmentation it was promising.
I used to be an early adopter, I also used to take drugs, both are poor decisions. I walked this weird line with buying cheap stuff instead of purchasing the best example of something. It doesn’t mean I never bought nice stuff, I did, just not consistently, and now I think I just want to buy things that work; with less concern for costs. I accept that sometimes I’ll be justified in buying the cheaper thing, but I’m only going to keep it if it actually works for me. That is the Heat quote for me. I will buy it, try it and then return it as soon as possible if it doesn’t work. And I’ll then write an epilogue and extol the virtues or lack there of.
Ok, so you’re not using a Celeron laptop with a broken hinge, and you’re not buying everything new thing that comes around. But you are still buying stuff. There are times when you see something, Bluetooth accessories first come to mind, and you think “I could have seven different versions of a device meant to distribute sound to my ear drums” This is ok. You can still buy shit, you’ve not taken a vow of poverty. You aren’t sidelined from upgrading when you want to, there should just be a reason for it, hopefully other than boredom. In the case of Bluetooth headphones, no different than corded headphones of yesteryear, one earpiece usually goes south before the other and that headphone suddenly becomes the “nightstand” headset; though sometimes I think I should repair or donate that stuff and move on in my life.
I still may not have any point to draw to in conclusion. I’m talking about desire and practicality but addressing neither, save for the thought that I don’t mind buying stuff, I want to be happy with it though. When i buy things now i aggressively look for what I dislike about the product.
The Airpods got disconnected from my phone before a walk and I had to hard reset them and reconnect them while fending off mosquitos, this happened a quarter mile into my walk and was infuriating. I know why this happened though and I suspected they were not connected before I left the house. This extra layer of connectivity is a double edged sword, a more complex repairing instance if you will, despite that issue the Airpods are still amazing. The same thing goes for the Apple Smart Keyboard, if it acts weird, it is a weird like no other keyboard manages to do. For example, in some text entry fields on websites, even on Apple sites, the Apple SmartKeyboard can’t type into the field. The first time it happened I thought the keyboard had disconnected. The next seven times it happened I also thought the keyboard was disconnected. This does not appear to be the reason, it just seems as if the Apple SmartKeyboard can’t type into some website text fields; that shit doesn’t happen with a regular keyboard.
Nothing is perfect. This isn’t the point. The question is can you assess the good and bad of a product, acknowledge when it isn’t going to work for you and walk away when it doesn’t work. The other big question is, can you distinguish when the good outweighs the bad. For example, if the Apple Smart Keyboard is more convenient than a Bluetooth keyboard and increases your productivity, is it worth it to spend Vitamixer money on it when you could have just bought a $14 blender. In my situation the Apple Smart Keyboard is thinner, more convenient and I’ve been typing for work and pleasure on it, so much more than I was when I had the other Bluetooth keyboard.
Here is where it gets really funny. The more I thought about the Apple SmartKeyboard and how much i enjoyed a real keyboard along with the fact that the Ipad does not work with any websites that are mouse-only in interface: Squarespace, Wisemapping, Smartsheet, I began to ask myself whether or not I just needed a laptop. Here I am with this delightful tablet that I’ve now mated to this keyboard. I’m writing again, and really the iPod doesn’t do everything i need to do, why don’t I have a laptop? I had to remind myself that the reason I got the IPad is cause I needed a portable note taker, that could replace pen and paper, because the laptop form factor does not work in the field. And yes, the iPad does not and will not (for the foreseeable future) do everything I want it to do, but it is damn nice, And even though it doesn’t do everything, the Apple Pencil is shockingly nice. The Apple Smartkeyboard is mostly a joy, and the iPad tablet is amazing, but I’m sometimes gonna need to set it aside and work on a regular computer, which is a bummer, but life is pretty good in the meanwhile.
Getting out of the rut
I have tried to make this commitment to write daily. I always write, but most of what is going on the page is communications to clients. I have had a pretty good run doing technology writing, but that has created this whole question for me about understanding what my motivations are.
For about three years now I’ve had these concepts that i’ve played around with. Do I want to document stuff from the past? Do I want I want to talk about these historic restorations? Do I want to everyman the use case of technology in a detailed way? A part of me has wanted to greatly document projects with glorious pictures and a lot of detail. Another part of me wants to just get some good thoughts out there.
None of this is really so much for an audience or niche anymore. I’m just trying to bring some sense of purpose to daily activities.
I used to be really good at the routines sleep, work, create, and fucking off. Somehow I was able to produce and relax and do all those other things. it seems of late though, work, sleep and not accounting for my time (decompression,) has really been the crux of it and I know that is mostly just cause family life is tricky and I’ve gone back to a heavy work schedule.
I’ve started a few things in preparation of this most recent attempt to write more and store my work. Last year I started some new hosting, it was a deal and I wanted to go back to hand coding my pages. I hoped the novelty of coding and wanting to write would just really reinvigorate me; that was a failure. Adding another obstacle to writing in the form of obsessing over page detail was not relaxing.
I also wanted to rethink navigation in the sense that I wanted to write with less of a linear post mentality and I hoped to just let my mind wander. We haven’t really seen this kinda inter site linking for a long time, everything is in a CRM of late and just waterfalls down the page. This concept felt really good in my head, but the thought of touching on a subject and then a series of expounding companion pieces also did not lend itself to more writing.
In the last decade I went from being a very public figure, to remarrying and then leading a private life and watching as the internet turned into a pornographic lynch mob. A lot of my concerns about self expression are now quaint, though the burden of setting boundaries about what is and is not acceptable to talk about, in my personal life is still to be worked out.
Words have meaning.Thoughts must be reflected on.Posting online is not writing in a journal.I see why it feels safer to muse on gadgets...
Apple Smart Keyboard - 1st & 2nd impressions
Apple Smart Keyboard
When I first tried the Apple Smart Keyboard I found myself unimpressed. What does that mean though? I’ll start with my first impressions
First impressions
Dislikes
- Lack of Apple function keys
- Tapping the keys feels like your finger is smashing crackers.
- Lack of protection
- The keyboard is too heavy to stay stuck to the screen
- One angle fits all. This is not the Smart Cover with a keyboard, you can only place the iPad at one angle
- How much?
- Keyboard sits close to the ipad
- Am I losing connectivity sometimes?
Likes
- Looks pretty cool
Those were were my first impressions over the course of three visits to the Apple store. Crazy thing though, I’ve had it a few days and I think I really like this keyboard
2nd impressions
Dislikes
- Lack of Apple function keys
- Lack of protection
- The keyboard is too heavy to stay stuck to the screen
- One angle fits all. This is not the Smart Cover with a keyboard, you can only place the iPad at one angle
- How much?
- Am I losing connectivity sometimes?
- Where the fuck is the backlighting?
Likes
- Looks
- Weight, when carrying-while walking or when in use
- Tapping the keys feels like your finger is smashing crackers
- Preferred to external keyboard
So what changed? Three days in I’ve not had to switch to my Bluetooth keyboard, so i could get work done. In no particular order I’ll say these things.
Ok, so smashing crackers doesn’t feel terrible. This keyboard has the same dome witches that the current generation MacBook has. But there is an additional membrane and it rests on top; so you won’t be getting any stuck keys. It feels very similar to the MacBook keyboard, but maybe it is better. That might be cause the keyboard cover seems to be vacuum sealed and glued, giving more bounce to the keys when they return to their upright position. I’d have to get access to a MacBook to really speak better about how close the two seem.
The position of the iPad Pro 12.9 is pretty perfect. I’ve not once wanted to reposition it, but that is kinda crazy. I regularly reposition my laptop screen, I mean, I used to. I don’t actually use my laptop anymore. My relationship with my laptop is a whole other matter to discuss. Back to the IPad Pro 12.9...
Only having one position doesn’t feel right, at least when i think about it, it doesn’t feel right, but I haven’t thought about it while using the ipad and the Smart Keyboard. Just to be clear. The one position they chose for the ipad to lean at is perfect. I haven’t found an instance yet where it doesn’t work. Weird.
I have a fourteen dollar Bluetooth keyboard that is modeled off of the small Apple Bluetooth keyboard. This keyboard is fine, it takes triple a batteries, has a solid connection, is not connected to the IPad and work for weeks on a single charge. This is what I was willing to spend on a keyboard. I was not able to bring myself to buy the Smart Keyboard when I was at the apple store. It wasn’t till I returned my Airpods that I even considered it and to be honest, I just wanted to test drive the SmartKeyboard till the new 2018 summer event, with he assumption i was going to buy something else.
I really like this keyboard though.
Three times in three days I’ve felt like the keyboard has disconnected. But I think two of those times I was in Amazon Prime and one of those times it wasn’t seated well. I’ll keep an eye out for it. I dunno.
This Keyboard is not backlit, I totally dig why it isn’t, but it sure should be, for the price.
This keyboard works on your legs like a laptop! Not in a half hearted way, you can really work in a similar manner as you might with a laptop. That doesn’t sound exactly the same though and that is cause it isn’t. You don’t have a trackpad, dude, it is an Ipad; that means no wrist rest either. So my usual bed or couch way of using a laptop or keyboarded ipad would be to have a lap board or a couch pillow. I don’t actually use laptops in my lap very often, if I have a say in the matter. The Smart Keyboard totally works on your legs though.
I don’t think I’m supposed to review or describe stuff and use “totally” in my description of things. The Apple Smart Keyboard is pretty pleasing, I think i can break a few rules.
So good I took them back...
AirPod Gen 1
The first thing you understand when using the AirPods is the entire experience will either tittilate you or repulse you. The design choices feel as if they are meant to bring you pleasure or at the very least make a bold design statement. The case, with its delicate magnetic clasp and the slight learning curve of removing the headphones is awkward the first few days; but strangely appealing. By day three I felt delightfully pleased anytime I stopped to take the head phones out, or put them back in. Someone else might immediately think of titillation as a great inconvenience and that is equally true, cause the first few days i worried about how i was going to either rip the lid off of the case, or wouldn’t be able to get the headphones out. This is the whole conundrum of Apple, what makes it appealing to some makes it annoying to others.
Here is the good shit though, the AirPods are really great, easily the best wireless ear buds you can get. If they don’t fit in your ear though you’re out of luck. If you want long battery life, you’re also out of luck, you’ll get a few hours before they need to go back in the charging case. This might be a edge case though, like when i was a carpenter i went 10 hours a day with Bluetooth going in my ear, the AirPods wouldn’t have worked. I’m back working in the office again now, and I think i only had the low battery chime happen once to me. I also charged the AirPod case twice in two weeks. Except for long flights, I don’t think many people will hit that wall often.
The W1 chip is deep intergration, being able to switch from iPhone to IPad is easier than Bluetooth, but not seamless. The W1 does make it easier though and mostly works with out fail. I can go from podcasting on my iPhone to Hulu on my IPad and instead of going to Bluetooth and hitting a button, i just close my iPhone and go to my iPad and most of the time the AirPod knows I’ve switched devices. This is that old apple magic. The acknowledgement is great, a screen pops up and tells you what your battery life is for the two headphones and the charger. But you still have to change your input to the AirPod, it is as if Apple has made the option of adding a saved device a little better, but still not effortless. Now I go to the control center and the audio playback option and I select it there. Is this better than how you do it in Bluetooth? Yes. Is it perfect? No, but speaks to a future that is far more pleasing than the evolution of Bluetooth alone.
I like the AirPods so much i took them back. Hear me out... Every day i used the AirPod it was great. I have the disadvantage of my birthday being a month or so before Apple announces the new product lineup. There are a couple of things I want the AirPod to do that this first generation product doesn’t do. First, I don’t want to tap my headphone twice for Siri. I want to be able to stroke my earpiece up or down for volume adjustment. Lastly, I want to switch between my apple devices and not have to change my input, just have the AirPod know and also automatically switch the input over. Maybe they’ll introduce those features, maybe they won’t. If they don’t, i might just go back to the store and reorder the headphones. If they do add new features, I’ll probably buy the version 2.0, even if they don’t have the new features I want. They’re that good.
I thought the first four people i saw using airpods looked crazy, they grow on you.
Life without Airpods
I’m on day three of not having the Airpods. On the first day I just switched to this mono earpiece that I have, which also has a rechargable cradle. It was fine. I’ve crested into day 3 and I am starting to miss the Airpods. This is tricky cause I traded them in for a Smart Keyboard (which I dig) and have another three weeks before I’ll even know if the Airpods are being replaced. The biggest thing I miss is that they always seem to have a full charge. No really, i use my headphones, probably seven or eight times a day and I’m not usually killing the battery. My mono piece is always accidentally turning itself on, and draining down to empty, while stuck in full pairing mood.
Tech Writing: Intro
What if money had no meaning? What if you could have any computer you want? What if the computer you want doesn’t exist? it almost seems like we are in this new age of the form factor. It used to be the desktop, then the laptop, and now we have hand helds and the internet of things. How some of us work has changed. I used to work in a world where it was common to have a nice desktop and a pretty good laptop. But my 2nd career has really changed my connection with computers as productivity devices to aid me on a day to day basis. In the last year I’ve tried to reimagine my use case for how I integrate with technology.
I have spent the last eight years or so with a few desktop computers, a couple of laptops, a tablet and a phone, sometimes two phones. The multiple desktops spent their time at my office and home. Same goes for the laptop, where it has been common for me to have work laptop and a personal laptop. Ditto regarding phones and if I didn’t have a personal phone and a work phone sometimes I would just have two phones, cause they served different purposes. My use of so many devices didn’t change when i left IT for carpentry, the number went down, but i still found myself puttering around on multiple computers. But I’ve been like this with technology for years. That is another piece to write on i think. Lately I’ve wanted to rethink hardware, software and the cloud. So I’m working on writing a series of pieces which talk about the past and the present.